Why this library exists.

Every Louisiana lawyer takes the same oath on the day they're sworn in. One of the lines, buried in the middle, asks them to "never reject, from any consideration personal to myself, the cause of the defenseless or the oppressed." It's an old line, copied forward from English common law into American practice, and it has survived in Louisiana longer than most people realize. It's the oath that makes access to justice not a policy preference but a professional obligation.

And yet the numbers in Louisiana tell a story of a promise we haven't kept. According to Legal Services Corporation data, roughly 86% of the civil legal problems faced by low-income Americans receive inadequate or no legal help. In Louisiana, the ratio of legal aid attorneys to people eligible for their services is roughly one attorney per 10,000 eligible residents. Parish civil courts see pro se litigation rates over 70% in family matters. Eviction courts see rates approaching 90% on the tenant side. People are not choosing to represent themselves because they prefer it. They are representing themselves because the alternative is doing nothing — and doing nothing means losing their child, losing their home, losing their right to vote, losing their name.

Access to justice should not turn on the depth of a person's pocket. It should turn on the strength of their case and the fairness of our courts. The mission of this project

What pro bono work is, and why it matters.

The Louisiana Rules of Professional Conduct, at Rule 6.1, set an aspirational target: every Louisiana-licensed lawyer should donate at least fifty hours per year to pro bono legal service. The rule is aspirational, not mandatory. Many lawyers meet or exceed it. Many do not. The gap between those aspirations and the reality on the ground is where the justice gap lives.

Pro bono work in Louisiana takes a lot of forms. It's the lawyer who handles a protective order case without charge. It's the firm that represents a tenant facing eviction during a rent strike. It's the solo practitioner who sets up a free clinic at a parish library one Saturday a month. It's the law student at Loyola or LSU volunteering at a legal aid intake. It's the retired judge who sits on a Modest Means panel. It's the bar section that builds and maintains the uniform forms self-represented litigants rely on. None of it is charity, strictly speaking. It is lawyers doing what their license obligates them to do.

This website is another form of that same work. Collecting, standardizing, and publishing Louisiana legal forms does not replace lawyers. It does not replace the Southeast Louisiana Legal Services intake line, or the Louisiana Civil Justice Center hotline, or the Pro Bono Project's self-help clinics at Orleans and Jefferson. It is meant to work alongside those institutions — to be a first resource that a person can find at 11:30 at night from their phone, when the clinics are closed and the hotlines are overwhelmed and the filing deadline is tomorrow morning.

What this library does, and what it cannot do.

This library provides:

• Standardized fillable forms for the most common Louisiana civil legal matters
• Statutory citations so you can verify the legal basis for what you're doing
• Plain-language instructions explaining what each form does, when to use it, and what traps to avoid
• A comprehensive directory of Louisiana courts and clerks of court
• Links to legal aid organizations, low-cost attorney referral services, and authoritative Louisiana legal resources
• A pathway to a free fifteen-minute consultation if you need more than the forms can offer

What this library cannot do is substitute for the judgment of a licensed attorney who knows your particular facts, your particular court, your particular opposing party, and the particular things about your case that may not fit the general template. Forms are a starting point, not a destination. The more your situation deviates from the typical case, the more important it is to talk to an attorney before you file.

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Legal aid organizations in Louisiana.

If you cannot afford an attorney but need one, the following legal aid organizations may be able to help at no cost or reduced cost. Eligibility is generally based on income, case type, and capacity; not every organization can accept every case.

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If you need more than the forms: a free consultation.

Sometimes the forms aren't enough. Your situation doesn't fit the template. You need a form drafted that isn't in the library. You're not sure whether your case is one you can handle pro se or one that needs counsel. You need someone to review a pleading before you file it.

For those situations, a free fifteen-minute consultation is available with a Louisiana-licensed attorney. No obligation. No sales pitch. You explain the situation; we tell you whether it's something you can likely handle alone using the library, whether you should contact a legal aid organization, or whether limited-scope representation might be a good fit.

If after the consultation you decide you'd like formal representation, we discuss rates privately. Rates are on a sliding scale based on income and the complexity of the matter. For some cases, reduced-fee or pro bono representation is possible. Every case is evaluated individually.

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An invitation to other Louisiana lawyers.

If you are a Louisiana-licensed attorney reading this and looking for a way to contribute to access to justice, a few thoughts.

First: your fifty-hour aspiration under Rule 6.1 doesn't have to mean a full case. It can be reviewing a form before someone files it. It can be sitting on a self-help-desk panel one morning a month. It can be mentoring a pro se litigant through their first contested hearing. It can be contributing drafting feedback to this library. The bar counts pro bono time broadly; the litigant counts every hour you give them.

Second: legal aid organizations in Louisiana are perpetually short on volunteer attorneys, especially in practice areas like landlord-tenant, family, and consumer. Southeast Louisiana Legal Services and Acadiana Legal Services both have volunteer intake processes. The LSBA Access to Justice section maintains a statewide volunteer list.

Third: limited-scope representation, newly formalized in Louisiana under District Court Rule 9.12, allows you to take on a discrete piece of a case without becoming counsel of record for the whole thing. It is an underused tool that can make pro bono work more manageable and more impactful. If you've been hesitant to volunteer because of the time commitment, this is a way in.

If you'd like to collaborate on the library itself — contribute form templates, review drafts, suggest improvements, or sponsor a subject-matter category — please get in touch. This is a community resource, and the community of Louisiana lawyers who care about access to justice is exactly who should be building it.